When I see your smile
by Reverlance
Summary: Setsuna F. Seiei, a mysterious young Gundam Meister. Euphemia li Britannia, a cheerful young Princess. When they cross paths for the second time, will hatred make way for forgiveness and maybe love? SetsunaOC, LockonOC, AllelujahOC, TieriaOC.
1. Prolouge

Prolouge

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**Name: **Euphemia li Britannia

**Alias/Nicknames: **Euphie-chan, Hime-sama

**Race: **Human

**Gender:** Female

**Age: **16 yrs. Old

**Birthday: **May 14, 2291

**Hair: **Pink, long and curly at the ends

**Eyes: **Light violet

**Height: **3 inches shorter than Setsuna

**Status: **3rd Princess of the Britannia Imperial Family, Viceroy of Area 11 (Japan)

**Family: **Cornelia li Britannia (older sister), Lelouch Vi Britannia (older stepbrother, deceased), Nunnally Vi Britannia (younger stepsister, deceased), Schneizel el Britannia (older stepbrother), Clovis la Britannia (older stepbrother), Odysseus u Britannia (older stepbrother), Guinevere su Britannia (older stepsister), Carine le Britannia (younger stepsister), Charles zi Britannia (father), Marianne vi Britannia (stepmother, deceased), Diana li Britannia (mother, deceased))

* * *

"_Gundam Meisters, you must go to Britannia in order to get top secret information on all factions' moves," Sumeragi Lee Noriega-san instructed the four Gundam Meisters. A map of the Britannian Imperial Mansion appeared._

"_There will be a party tonight, distract the people while Tieria downloads the information from the main command room. It's up to you guys on how you'll get inside," she instructed before the screen went blank._

"_Well, looks like we have to get suited for a party," Lockon Stratos, the pilot of the Dynames smirked. _

"_Where do we get suits then?" Allelujah Haptism, the pilot of the Kyrios asked. _

"_Isn't it obvious? We're going to steal some from a few people there," Tieria Erde, the pilot of Virtue, said, sighing in dismay._

_

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_

Now, all four Gundam Meisters have landed on the garden of the Britannian Imperial Mansion on a random speed boat they were able to attain from a random faction. Suddenly, four men in suits came out laughing to each other, this was the perfect chance. All four Gundam Meisters launched themselves at the four strangers, knocking them out and took their clothes. Then, the four of them went inside the magnificent ball room, all ready to do their jobs.

Tieria had not much of a hard time finding the main control room, Allelujah and Lockon were doing pretty good jobs distracting the people, especially the women, Setsuna stood by the food table getting a glass of punch. He was never the sociable type, he never really talked much, in his mind, they should've made him stay guard; there was no way in hell that he would be able to do this task. He sighed to himself, staring at the delicate glass of punch he held.

"Hello," a feminine voice greeted him. He looked up to see a smiling pink haired girl who looked about his age. She wore a pale pink and creamy white gown with pink roses on her neck, just above her elbows and her abdomen. Her hair was just below her waist and was curly on the ends with two buns on both sides of her head. She had bright violet eyes who looks as those of a child.

"Hello…" he said wondering what she could have wanted from him. She looked at him wondering for a bit then smiled again.

"What?" Setsuna asked, not trusting the smile she wore.

Her eyes widened with shock for a moment. "O-Oh! N-Nothing! Don't mind me," she said defensively waving her hands in front of her face. He gave her a suspicious look before turning his back on her, facing the food table.

She looked at him in wonder, she had never encountered a man like this before, she knew everyone in the ballroom knew her. She was Euphemia li Britannia, the 3rd princess of Britannia and Viceroy of Japan or Area 11. No, she didn't approach him to hear him say, "Your majesty" or anything like that, she approached him because her older sister, Cornelia li Britannia, the 2nd princess of Britannia, had ordered her to socialize, she picked this random stranger because 1, he was far from Cornelia's sight therefore she wouldn't be watching them, 2 because he looked unfamiliar, and 3 he looked somewhat lonely. Euphemia then wondered if it was possible that this man had attended the party without knowing who she was, not that she was complaining. If fact she was somewhat happy that someone was treating her like a normal person, not a princess. She only found it rude that he turned his back on her; anyone would have if they were in her position.

She then walked to the man's side taking a glass of punch herself. She looked up at the man. He, was somewhat tan and had black hair and crimson eyes she had never seen before. Some of the people she knew had eyes close to crimson but weren't. Like Anya Alstreim of the Knights of Round, she had pink eyes, Angelina Fortescue, one of her advisers, had red eyes maroon colored eyes, and others but none of them were the same color as his. He was a bit taller than her and wore a normal black tuxedo. But she had also wondered if she had met this man before, his peculiar eyes, his somewhat stoic expression, his somehow unusual tanned skin; every part of him reminded her of something she couldn't grasp.

Setsuna noticed the way the girl looked at him and looked back. He looked at her eyes for a moment and then, a flash of a smiling pink haired girl crossed his mind. This shocked him, that girl who flashed in his mind, she was somehow familiar, he wasn't sure, but he knew that she was someone important.

"Sir?" Euphemia asked noticing his uncomfortable expression. It had worried her and she wondered if he found it comfortable that she was gawking at him, then again, who wouldn't? She was a girl… and he was a guy… people could have the weirdest ideas if they found a teenage girl gawking at a boy about her age.

Setsuna had snapped back into reality with the girl's call. He looked at her, resuming his stoic expression. "What?"

"Oh! Um… nothing really, you seemed to have spaced out for a moment. And I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable under my gaze," Euphemia apologized, assuming that that was his reason of discomfort.

"Oh, no… it's not that…" Setsuna replied looking away from the girl. Then, silence fell upon them. For a long, somewhat uncomfortable silence, the girl spoke.

"So… how do you find the party so far…?" Euphemia asked breaking the awkward silence. For some reason, she wanted very much to continue her conversation with this man, maybe she could even come to ask about his peculiar red eyes.

"Alright…" Setsuna replied, wondering why she would have asked such a senseless question, prolonging their conversation instead of simply walking away after realizing that he wasn't much of a talkative person. Somehow, her presence made him uncomfortable, usually he would have simply ignored her presence; he guessed that it was her senseless questions that he found her quite annoying more than uncomfortable.

"Alright…?" Euphemia thought, boy, will Milly be disappointed to hear that. This party was planned by Milly Ashford, a student in a school called Ashford Academy; it seems as if her family was close to the late Empress, Marianne vi Britannia. Milly's part planning skills were excellent indeed and she is quite proud of it, how disappointing for her if she heard someone describe her party as, "Alright" instead of the usual, "Fantastic!" "Extravagant!" "Terrific!" "Superb!" and all that.

Suddenly, the crowd in front of the two seemed a little startled, finally, the reason for uneasiness finally showed itself in front of the two. A man wearing only his boxers and socks pushed through the crowd and pointed at Setsuna.

"You! You're the one who took my suit!" the man pointed at Setsuna.

Euphemia was shocked and was about to look at the man beside her only that he took her by the neck and pointed a gun at her head.

"None of you move of I'll shoot this girl's brains out," Setsuna threatened startling everyone around them.

"Oi!" Lockon called as he pushed through the crowd along with Allelujah before running to Setsuna's side. Afterwards, Tieria came out of the crown and stood beside his colleagues.

"Euphemia!" the voice of the 2nd princess boomed throughout the ballroom as she approached the scene.

"Onee-sama!" Euphemia called frightened but was held back by Setsuna who put the gun closer to her head.

"You bastard…!" Cornelia sneered at Setsuna.

He started walking with Euphemia still in his arms, everyone made way for them, fearing the death of their beloved princess. The Gundam Meisters walked and walked until they reached the balcony where under it was sea, and their speed boat.

"There's no where to run so give her back you scum!" Cornelia demanded but Setsuna only put the gun closer, almost touching Euphemia's hair. When his colleagues had jumped off, he ripped his head away from the crowd and the angry princess to look below the balcony, estimating how high he will jump.

"Guilford!!!" Cornelia yelled angrily to her Knight.

"Yes my Lord!" he replied.

Setsuna let go of Euphemia and was about to jump when an excruciating pain ripped through his shoulder causing him to walk back and fall from the balcony railing.

Euphemia watched this happen and reach out and grabbed the man's hand. "Sir!" she yelled but then was pulled with him to sea.

"EUPHEMIA!!!" Cornelia yelled running to the edge of the balcony and was about to jump when her knight stopped her.

"Cornelia-sama you mustn't!" Guilford said pulling his princess back by the waist.

"But Euphemia―!" Cornelia tried to protest but was cut off by Guilford.

"We will find her so you must stay alive until then!" he said and finally, Cornelia stopped struggling and returned to her normal posture.

"Tell the soldiers to search for her in every place in Britannia, everywhere even to the last alley!" she ordered him and he bowed obeying her orders.

Meanwhile, both Euphemia and Setsuna fell into the water, she did not let go of the unconscious bleeding man, not wanting him to drift off to the sharks. The currents were strong and drifted both of them away from shore. She knew that by sticking to this man, the sharks could come and eat her as well yet she did not let go. She forced her eyes open, but then lost consciousness as well.

The three Gundam Meisters struggled to keep up with the two drifting teenagers.

"Damn this current…!" Lockon cursed trying to get the speed boat to run faster.

"Why don't we simply let them be?" Tieria asked, he wasn't really one to care, he's even against the idea of Setsuna being a Gundam Meister.

"Tieria!" Allelujah exclaimed in disbelief.

"I'll deal with you later!" Lockon said angrily as he followed the two bodies that were drifting to some body of land. The three Gundam Meisters got to the shore along with the two teenagers, only to find the bleeding Setsuna conscious trying to get the now unconscious Euphemia to wake. They approached the two and Allelujah found that she was barely breathing. Then, Setsuna did something that his colleagues did not expect; he pulled her dress down, revealing a ________ being the cause of her uneasy breathing. He took out his knife and cut it open; it was a good thing that she was wearing a tube under dress. But her breath did become regular, therefore he was forced to perform CPR on her.

In Euphemia's view, she was digging her mouth to a warm cherry pie. "It tastes so delicious!" she thought slowly opening her eyes. Her eyes widened as she found the man's (or terrorist, she didn't know) lips on hers. She slapped him off her and sat up, her face showing a thousand shades of red. She looked down and found herself only in her plain white under dress. She blushed even more shades of red then screamed an ear piercing scream.

She pulled her dress back up and slapped Setsuna across the face. "PERVERT!!!" she screamed before turning to the other Gundam Meisters. "PERVERT, PERVERT, PERVERT!!!" she yelled slapping the other three across their faces. She then ran off to the trees.

"Hey girl!" Setsuna called to her before running after her.

"What kind of 'Thank you' was that?!" Lockon exclaimed.

"Well that was kind of awkward… she _was_ a girl… and we were guys… and she was only in her under dress…" Allelujah tried to explain but couldn't get the proper words out.

"We better go after her before Setsuna gives her any more weird ideas," Tieria said as the three of them stood up and ran after the two.

Euphemia kept running, even if she didn't know where to go, she was afraid. What had those men exactly done to her? Why was she only wearing her under dress then? More importantly, WHY WAS THAT MAN KISSING HER?! She was a teenage girl and all so she has the right to say this, "THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS!!!"

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop. She looked behind her, only to find the man who had kissed her.

"Listen to me!" he said angrily frightening her more, only making her squirm more, trying to struggle away from him. He then pinned her to a tree, holding firmly on her shoulders. Tears escaped from her eyes.

"I said, listen to me!" he demanded angrily, tightening his grip on her shoulders.

"Setsuna, stop it!" Lockon yelled pulling him off of Euphemia. She then fell to the ground and started crying.

"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to frighten you, nor did we mean to hurt you," Allelujah reassured her, rubbing her back soothingly. She then looked up at them as they explain everything, and in a minute, everything was clear to her, turns out the man who kissed her was actually performing CPR on her.

"By the way, I'm Lockon Stratos," the brunette man introduced himself to her.

"Lockon! Why are you telling our names to her?!" Setsuna asked angrily.

"Well, she did see us already so we can't just let her go, since she's staying with us for quite a while, she ought to get to know us," Lockon explained.

"I'm Allelujah Haptism!" the olive-haired man introduced himself enthusiastically.

"Tieria Erde," the violet haired man simply said with less enthusiasm as Allelujah.

"And the aggressive one is Setsuna F. Seiei," Lockon said pointing at him with his thumb. Euphemia looked at them one by one, there are still a few questions in her mind though, like why they took her as hostage, or where they came from.

"So who're you?" Lockon asked, noticing the girl space out for a moment.

"Oh, pardon me," she said standing up then bowing down. "I am Euphemia li Britannia, of the Holy Britannian Empire," she said before looking back up only to find the boys' shocked faces.

"B-B-B-B-B-BRITANNIA?!" Lockon exclaimed in disbelief.

"Y-You mean you're a p-princess…?" Allelujah asked a little nervously. Then Tieria slapped his hand to his forehead.

"Of all the people you can use as hostage it _had _to be the _princess_!" he shouted at Setsuna who only scoffed.

"Um… yes, I am the 3rd princess of Britannia, I thought you already knew that…" Euphemia said, not exactly sure why they were so agitated.

"Well, we'll have to introduce her to Ms. Sumeragi, for now we have to get away from Britannia," Lockon said standing up.

"What do you mean? Aren't you taking me back?" Euphemia asked, suddenly scared that she may not see her family again.

"We're sorry Euphemia, we really can't, I hope you understand," Allelujah apologized gently. The princess sadly sighed and stood up and walked to the boat with them, no use going against them now.

As they reached the line that signifies that they were leaving Britannia, Euphemia looked back at her country, the country she had grew up in, the country that served as her home for many years… she may never see her family again.

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Thanks for reading! Please read the next chapters too!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Learning of Consequence**

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It was a long ride to the Ptolemy, Euphemia has fallen asleep, the Gundam Meisters we're left to talk.

"What are we going to do with her? Take her as a prisoner just because she accidentally became Setsuna's hostage?" Allelujah said looking back at the sleeping princess.

"It's not my fault, if she had just walked away from me after attempting to make a conversation then she wouldn't have gotten into this mess," Setsuna defended himself.

"You can't blame her for that, it's not like she knew that we were from the Celestial Being or something," Lockon said in the defense of the princess.

"We're not really one's to decide what to do with her, the decision making will be Ms. Sumeragi's job," Tieria said, not really caring what will happen to the princess.

"Well one thing's for sure, it's that I'm gonna stand up in her defense if Ms. Sumeragi decides to kill her," Lockon said.

"I'm with Lockon," Allelujah said.

"Do as you wish," both Setsuna and Tieria said in unison, when they noticed this then glared at each other.

* * *

When they got to the ship, they woke the sleeping princess and led her to the bridge.

"Everyone, how was―" Ms. Sumeragi Lee Noriega was about to ask about the mission when her eyes landed on Euphemia.

"Eu-Euphemia?!" she exclaimed.

"S-Sumeragi-san?!" Euphemia exclaimed back. The rest of the crew blinked in wonder.

"You know each other?" Allelujah asked looking back and forth from his captain and the captive princess. Suddenly, Sumeragi approached Euphemia and put her in a head lock while ruffling her hair.

"Hey there kid! How's your big sister? Grumpy as always I presume?" Sumeragi said playfully as Euphemia tried to squirm away from her grasp.

"I think she's more angry than grumpy…" Euphemia replied weakly.

"Oh, how did you get here? Did those boys did anything to you?! If they did just tell me and they're dead!" Sumeragi said making a fist as Euphemia laughed nervously. They explained everything to the whole crew. Sumeragi sighed and looked at Euphemia.

"You do know what this means, don't you?" she asked Euphemia who nodded sadly. Sumeragi sighed and turned on the news.

Newscaster:_ 8:00 last night, four terrorists ambushed the royal ball at the Britannian Imperial Mansion and kidnapped the 3__rd__ princess of Britannia and the Viceroy of Area 11, Euphemia li Britannia._

A picture of Euphemia then popped into the screen.

Newscaster: _Let us see what the citizens of Britannia say about that._

Old woman: _Give her back! Give her back you cold blooded monsters! Give us our princess back!!!_

Child: _Euphemia-hime-chan never did anything to you! Why did you take her?! It's not fair!!!_

Newscaster: _This morning, the 3__rd__ princess's older sister, the 2__nd__ princess, Cornelia li Britannia made her statement._

Cornelia: _Whoever you are you bastards, give me back my sister. When I find you I will not hesitate to order the whole Britannian Army to kill you. You harmed the Britannian Imperial Family therefore you shall pay for it with your lives!_

Newscaster: _The 2__nd__ prince of Britannia, Schneizel el Britannia, has also made his statement._

Schneizel: _This insolence will not be forgiven; Royal Army as well as some of the Knights of Rounds are already looking for Euphemia. Such a crime will not be let off without punishment._

Newscaster: _As well as the 3__rd__ prince, Clovis la Britannia._

Clovis: _I am deeply saddened by my precious sister's disappearance and deeply angered by those terrorist's imprudence! As my older brother had stated, such a crime will not be let off without punishment! Do they even have any idea how much damage they made by taking Euphemia?! How could they?!_

Newscaster: _This is a message for the terrorists who took Britannia's Princess Euphemia. Bring her back now before the Royal Family looses their patience and will be forced to use drastic measures and your current punishment will double. From past experiences of different convicts who opposed the Britannian Royal Family, punishment was great. That is why I suggest you bring her back now without a scratch and who knows? Perhaps the Royal family will let you off as death as punishment._

And with that, the news report ended with everyone sweating. Sumeragi sighed.

"Looks like Cornelia hasn't changed at all, still as hot headed as ever. And Clovis too, he should try out for theater," she said smirking slightly at Euphemia.

"Well they never do change," said Euphemia who giggled a little.

"They've learned from that incident, huh?" Sumeragi said a little less enthusiastic than before.

"No one really found out who the murderer of Marianne-sama was, but Onee-sama's still trying. We also never found out who bombed Lelouch and Nunally's vacation house at Japan…" Euphemia replied with the same amount of enthusiasm.

"Cornelia always had suspects…" Sumeragi said.

"They wouldn't―!" Euphemia exclaimed in disbelief but was cut off by Sumeragi.

"I know, but let's not forget the fact that Marianne-sama, though was the Knight of Six, was still a commoner when she married Charles-sama, yet she became Empress. Who _wouldn't_ suspect the other wives?" Sumeragi said making Euphemia look down a bit. The people around them looked at them in wonder. They knew that the one called Marianne was the late Empress of Britannia, Charles was the current Emperor of Britannia, but who was Lelouch and Nunnally? What had exactly happened?

"Well enough of that, I don't like seeing you down," Sumeragi said placing her hand on Euphemia's shoulder. She looked up at Sumeragi's smiling face, and then smiled herself. She then explained to Euphemia all about Celestial Being, much to Setsuna and Tieria's dismay.

Feldt and Chris (some of the staff of Ptolemy) were nice enough to lend her other clothes so she doesn't have to always wear that dirty and bulky gown. She now wore a pink sweater that had a turtle neck and had sleeves that showed her shoulders but covered the rest of her arm, a brown miniskirt, and a pair of pink doll shoes.

"Maaa!!! You're so cute Euphemia-chan!!!" Chris exclaimed hugging Euphemia very tightly. Fedlt sighed and continued her work. Euphemia giggled at the enthusiastic girl, at home, no body dared to talk to her or touch her this way.

"Since we can't just put you in a cell and we also can let you go… I'm putting you under Setsuna's supervision!" Sumeragi-san said which surprised both Euphemia and Setsuna.

"WHY HIM/HER?!" both of them exclaimed. The exchange looks before looking back at Sumeragi-san.

"Why are you making me baby-sit some spoiled princess?!" Setsuna asked outraged, to him, he was a Gundam Meister, not a baby sitter! Besides, he got enough of this girl's attitude at the island and he still hasn't forgiven her for her slap.

"For your information I am not a spoiled princess and I'm not being more enthusiastic about than you are!" Euphemia shouted at him, outraged by his behavior. Both outraged teenagers glared at each other for a while yet Sumeragi only grinned at them Chris was first to understand her motives, giggled. Next was Lockon who also grinned at the two. Then Allelujah who tried to compress his laughter at the idea. Then Fedlt who sighed at their captain's childishness. And last was Tieria who found this insignificant. Everyone understood their captain's plan except the two teenagers who were too busy glaring at each other to even notice.

"Captain's orders, Setsuna. You can't do anything about it," Lockon said still wearing his toothy grin which Setsuna did not noticed since he had his eyes locked on the pouting pink haired princess in front of him.

"Captain's decided, you'll just have to follow Euphemia-chan!" Chris said giggling which Euphemia apparently noticed and sent her a glare. They looked at each other for a moment before huffing and turning away. The whole crew remained grinning with the exception of Fedlt and Tieria who were wondering if their captain's plan could possibly work. To set these two up.

Both Euphemia and Setsuna then left the bridge and headed for their rooms. As the door closed behind then, the whole crew looked at their captain.

"So what's the plan Ms. Sumeragi?" Lockon immediately said.

"Easy, we always pair those two up for things and they'd be close in no time!" she answered.

"Ne, Sumeragi-san, how did you think of it?" Chris asked.

"Well, I just thought, Euphemia was 16 and Setsuna was 16. Euphemia is sweet, kind and caring, Setsuna is serious, grumpy, and extremely need to get a social life. They fit each other like two puzzle pieces put together!" she exclaimed giggling slightly.

"Are you sure about this Sumeragi-san? I mean, they are old enough to make their own decisions so…" Fedlt trailed off for a moment not entirely sure of what to say.

"I know that, but I also know that they also need a little push. Don't worry Fedlt! They'd be thanking us for this one day!" Sumeragi reassured Fedlt who only sighed.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the dorms of Ashford Academy, a young man and his sister are watching the news.

Newscaster:_ 8:00 last night, four terrorists ambushed the royal ball at the Britannian Imperial Mansion and kidnapped the 3__rd__ princess of Britannia and Viceroy of Area 11, Euphemia li Britannia._

"Euphie-nee-chan…" the blind and walk-disabled young girl said in worry, as her older brother only looked angrily at the television screen.

"Who would've…?" she asked looking up at her brother whom she presumed was right beside her.

"I don't know Nunnally, but I'll try to find out as much as I can," a certain black haired young man reassured his sister.

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Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: **

Today seemed very uneventful, ever since Sumeragi-san put me under this Setsuna-jerk's supervision I've been stuck in this island since that's where he's based.

"Green, green, green, there's nothing but green here!" Britannia's 3rd princess and Area 11's Viceroy, Euphemia li Britannia grumbled as she stared at the green sight in front of her as she sat on a log. She looked up and saw the open cockpit of Exia. "Must be that jerk…" she thought now glaring ahead of her.

"Bored?" Lockon Stratos, Dynames' Gundam Meister, asked the young princess.

"Hai…." She replied not ripping her gaze from the trees. Suddenly, a glass of pink liquid was held in front of her.

"Huh?" she asked looking at the concoction in front of her.

"Don't worry, its fruit juice," he reassured. Her eyes gleamed at the pink glass, she hasn't drank anything but water for days. She took the glass and drank. She smiled sweetly as a light shade of pink colored her cheeks.

"Delicious! Thank you Mr. Stratos!" she exclaimed in delight, smiling brightly at him.

"Made it myself, glad it suits your taste," he says taking a sip of his own glass.

"Really?! You made this Mr. Stratos?" she asked and he nodded his head return.

"Your amazing Mr. Stratos!" she exclaimed drinking more.

"Quit being so formal, I feel so old," he said smiling at her.

"But it'll be impolite since we're not exactly friends but acquaintances, right?" she asked tilting her head to the side as she looked at him. He chuckled.

"If that's the case then let's be friends!" he said holding his hand out to her. Lockon guessed that she was taught proper manners as she grew, guess it kind of brushed off too much on her. Euphemia looked at his hand then smiled widely taking it and shaking it, signifying the start of their friendship.

A thought then came to her as she pulled out a silver bracelet from her pocket and handed it to him.

"Huh? What's this?" he asked staring at the peculiar thing. It seemed to be a charm bracelet. She took hold of his wrist and then wrapped the bracelet around it. She smiled up to him as she connected a charm that looked like two hands holding each other.

"I usually do this to my friends, from now on, for every friend that you meet, he/she can give you a charm to put there signifying your friendship!" she said looking up at him. He stared at her oddly for a while then smiled. She reminded her of an important girl in his life, someone who smiled almost as sweetly as Euphemia, someone who is long gone, that someone who is the reason for his hate of terrorist, his sister, Amy Dylandy. He then remembered a charm Amy got him on his last birthday with her, now it had a place besides his wallet.

"Since we're friends you can call me Lockon now right?" he asked and she nodded still smiling. He searched in his pocket and found a small pink ribbon.

"I know it's nothing big, but I hope it'll do," he said tying the ribbon onto one of the locks of Euphemia's own charm bracelet which had about eight charms all crammed up to one side of the bracelet.

Euphemia smiled brightly at the ribbon, it was simply yet beautiful for her, it was perfect. "It's beautiful," she said still examining the new addition to her bracelet.

"Stop lying, it's only a ribbon," Lockon said looking up.

"I'm not lying! It's true! It's beautiful! Simple but beautiful!" she exclaimed as she looked at him, childishly upset. He looked at her then sighed.

"Alright, alright, I got it, you like it," he said settling the enraged girl down.

"Say, since you can call me Lockon, I guess I can call you… Euphie?" he asked and she nodded in return. He smiled taking out his sister's charm from his wallet and attaching it to the bracelet.

Euphemia stared at the charm, it was beautiful, it was a small frame, with a small picture which she couldn't see clearly. She looked at it again and saw two children, one brown haired girl and one brown haired boy. She looked up at Lockon and asked, "Is that your sister?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, she gave this to me on my 13th birthday," Lockon answered looking at the small picture.

"She said she couldn't buy a chain for it since it was too expensive at that time," he explained.

"She's really cute. Where is she?" she asked.

"Gone, she was killed at a terrorist attack with my parents before," he said flatly somewhat shocking Euphemia. She didn't know that it would offend him or bring back any bad memories, she didn't want that…

"I-I'm sorry…! I had no idea… I… I… I'm sorry…" she said looking down at her lap.

"Don't be, it's not your fault, there's nothing to apologize for," he said trying to cheer up the now saddened princess before him.

"Those people… killed at that attack… those people… weren't wrong… just at the wrong place…" she said softly, not looking up at Lockon.

"As if it were their fault! How could they have known?! They weren't even given a chance! Horrible… just horrible…!" she exclaimed, tears now running down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, you'll ruin your beauty if you cry," he said then she giggled in response then wiped off her tears.

"You know, if she were still alive, she would've been about your age by now. I guess you two would get along well, you're both so sweet and kind…" he trailed off looking up onto the sky.

"Her name is Amy, Amy Dylandy," he said, not bothering to his identity from her.

"I'm Neil Dylandy," he said smiling at her, somewhat shocking her that he had told her his real name.

"You're a kind person… Lockon," she said looking at the sky herself.

"Only to girls," he said making her laugh.

"Ne, can we have a bonfire tonight?" she asked.

"Sure? Why not?" he replied smiling at her.

"Great! You can write a letter to Ms. Amy and burn it so that it can reach her in heaven!" she smiled at him. He looked at her for a while then nodded smiling. It was childish, yes, but sometimes, people like her are just the people you need to cheer you up. Both of them now looked at the sky, both looking forward to that evening, not knowing that from afar, someone was watching them.

Setsuna watching the _touching _scene in disgust, from his view, Lockon was trying to pull moves on that stupid princess. He never knew that bubblegum girls were his type, then again, maybe he's just a chick boy. And as stupid as that girl was, she fell for Lockon's trap, it's none of his concern whether Lockon breaks her heart of anything, it only becomes his concern when Lockon tries set her free, then will it be his concern. He sighed in frustration (of unknown cause) before continuing his work on Exia.

That evening, Lockon, Euphemia, and Setsuna sat around the bonfire that Lockon and Euphemia made. They ate dinner that was courtesy of Lockon (both Lockon and Setsuna doubted the fact that Euphemia could cook).

"Ne, Lockon! Do you have your letters now?" Euphemia asked him.

"Yup," he said holding out three envelops as Setsuna stared at them in wonder. Euphemia then took out five envelops.

"My, that's quite a lot, who're they for?" Lockon asked.

"The pink one is for my mother, Catherine; the blue one is for my step-mother, Marianne-sama; the purple one is for my step-brother, Lelouch; the beige one is for my step-sister, Nunnally; and the white on is…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"A secret!" she smiles at Lockon and he smiled back before both of them puts the letters in the fire.

"Why are you setting your letters on fire?" Setsuna asked, cocking an eyebrow on the two.

"So that our loved ones in heaven could read them!" Euphemia smiled up at him.

"That's pathetic," he said looking away, shocking both Lockon and Euphemia.

"Setsuna―!" Lockon was about to say when Euphemia cut him off.

"How could you say that?! Don't you have loved ones in heaven that you want to tell something to? We're doing this because even if it's childish we still do it so that maybe it works! We'll never find out if it does but it's worth trying!" she yelled at him, outraged.

"It's useless," he says still not looking at Euphemia.

"It's not useless! And look at me when I'm talking to you!" she yells, then he turns his head to look at her as he stood up, somewhat startling her.

"It's useless because in this world, there is no such thing as god, therefore there is no such thing as heaven," he says.

"You're horrible! How could you say that?!" she yelled.

"I could say that because I've been there, I've been to the place deserted by God," he says shocking Euphemia before walking away.

Suddenly, her legs became limp. She fell to her knees, shock still in her eyes.

"Euphie!" Lockon yelled running to her side.

"I-I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to bring back bad memories… I-I… I'm so sorry…" she said putting her face in her hands as she started to cry. Lockon comforted her then hugged her.

"It's not your fault… you didn't mean to," he said, trying to cheer her up.

"But I called him horrible! I said things I shouldn't!" she said looking up at him as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Then apologize when you see him, things will be alright, I know Setsuna could be rude sometimes but he could be real great guy, he just doesn't open up much," Lockon explained rubbing her back soothingly.

"Tomorrow he'll bring you to his apartment, do something nice for him then," Lockon said taking her off of his tear soaked shirt. She nodded trying to stop crying.

The next day, Setsuna did bring her to his apartment and it was already evening.

"You'll go by the name Phoebe Middleton, Lockon chose the name," Setsuna said as we ride his motorcycle to his apartment.

"Oh…" she said slightly making her hold around his waist tighter. He was going fast, she didn't know why.

Right now, Setsuna was slightly blushing, her arms were tight around his waist. His insides were making twists inside his stomach, this feeling was unfamiliar, and it wasn't comfortable either.

They reached the apartment and Setsuna took out his keys, on the door beside us, a brown haired boy noticed us.

"Oh, are you my neighbors?" he asked. Neither Setsuna or Euphemia answered.

"I'm Saji Crossroad, I live here with my sister," he explained.

"Setsuna F. Seiei," Setsuna introduced himself.

"Seiei? That's a peculiar name…" Saji trailed off.

"I'll looking forward to―" he said but was cut off when Setsuna ignored him and walked inside the house. Euphemia looked at him.

"U-Um… I'm Eu-Ph-Phoebe M-Middleton, p-pleased to meet you!" Euphemia introduced herself, as to not seem rude.

"Um… pleased to meet you too," Saji said shaking hands with her.

"I'm sorry for his behavior," she said bowing. Then, a thought came to Saji's head.

"U-Um… are you―?" but he was cut off when Setsuna spoke from inside the apartment.

"Phoebe," he called.

"Uh, coming!" she yelled back.

"Excuse me," she said before running inside.

"Live-ins?" he said to himself before entering his apartment.

As Euphemia got inside she examined the apartment. It had a small kitchen, a small living room, and a bed room. She saw Setsuna walking inside the bed room and she followed, she saw that there were two beds on either side of the room.

"You'll sleep in that bed," Setsuna said pointing to the bed to the right of the room.

"If you need to do anything and need the room, just tell me, I'll go out," he said emotionlessly. Euphemia blushed walking to her bed, she was going to share the room with a guy, but she thought that Setsuna wasn't the type, but still he was a guy.

"Are you uncomfortable? Do you want me to leave?" he asked looking at her from his bed.

"U-Uh, no! It's alright," she stuttered walking to her bag with clothes that Feldt and Chris supplied. She took out a pair of pajamas and walked towards the bathroom. As she changed clothes inside the bathroom, she thought about how she would apologize to Setsuna, she then decided that she'd cook for him the next morning.

Outside the bathroom, Setsuna sighed, he would've wanted to sleep on the couch instead but Lockon insisted saying that it would be easier to guard her, saying that he'd be toast if anything happened to Euphemia. He sighed then turned in his bed, trying to sleep. Euphemia walked out of the bathroom and walked to her bed, lay down and faced the wall.

"Good night," she said, testing if he was still awake.

"Good night," he replied. She sat up looking at him but then smiled then lay down and slept.

That night, Setsuna sat up from his bed. He looked over to Euphemia and saw that she was fast asleep. He walked closer to her and found that she was now facing the ceiling and had kicked away her blanket. Suddenly, a flash of a sleeping pink haired girl popped into his mind. Until now, he still couldn't grasp the identity of the girl, he knew that she was someone in his past, but he still can't remember who she was. He then sighed and pulled the blanket back up to her chest then walked to the kitchen for a glass of water.

As he left the room, Euphemia softly whispered, "Soran…" cause in her dreams, something else was going on.

"_It's me," Soran's voice came from the other side of the door. She smiled and opened up the door for him. _

"_Good evening Soran!" she greeted sweetly, letting him sit beside her on her mattress. Neither of them said anything, but Soran's cheeks were already bright red. She stared at him in wonder._

"_I-I've just decided…" he starts taking a deep breath, a little reluctant on his choice of words. To his bad luck, he was facing a Britannian, who were very attentive when it came to use of words. _

_Euphie looked at him, waiting patiently for his decision for whatever. That time, she was also wondering what Soran found so interesting about his lap now. _

"_I'll protect you," he said, finally mustering up the courage to say those three words._

"_Huh?" Euphie asked, suddenly taken aback by him._

"_I'll protect you! No matter what the cost, even if I perish, even if I die, I'll protect you! Because… because your most important to me!" he said, determination shining in his eyes. Euphie looked at him in worry for a second, she didn't want him to die or get hurt because of her, but she decided that if that was what would make him happy, then she'd do it._

_She nodded at him with a smile. "I'll let you do that, as long as you always come back to me and Sophie, Papa," she said holding the doll tightly against her chest. She looked back up at Soran and found him a little closer than before. _

_He stared at her eyes and starting moving closer, she stared back not exactly sure of what was to happen. They were both silent, looking into each other's eyes, Soran inching closer and closer. When Euphie could already feel his breath in her face, when her heart started pounding in anticipation, when his lips were only centimeters away from hers, he suddenly realized what he was about to do._

_Euphie noticed that the anticipation seemed a little extended and noticed Soran slowly retreating, this time; it was her turn to move. She swiftly moved forward and made their lips touch. Soran's eyes grew wide, she had kissed him! After two to three seconds, she pulled away, looking down blushing. She didn't really know why she did that, it was just something in her gut that told her not to let it go._

_She looked up to the also blushing but smiling Soran. They smiled at each other for a while, then Soran started inching closer again, now a little more confident than before. Euphie stared at him for a second. He had closed his eyes while he inched closer; Euphie's heart was pounding violently in her chest._

"_A-Ah!!! W-We shouldn't d-d-do this in front of the ch-ch-ch-child!!!" she stuttered frantically putting the doll in between them. She was blushing hard and her eyes shut tight her head turned away from Soran._

_She heard him sigh then agree with her before standing up. When he was full of doubt, she kisses him, when he was absolutely confident, she turned him down. He couldn't understand her, or was it just that he hadn't been around girls his age for so long?_

_She watched his retreating back silently. She wasn't sure on how to react back there, Cornelia's words had struck into her mind that time. "If a man stole a kiss from you once, don't ever let him steal another one again or else they will take advantage of your easy-to-get nature." Technically, Soran didn't steal the kiss the first time, she gave it to him. The second time, he seemed confident enough and Euphie was still flustered and she felt that she was not ready. Now, she was afraid that he had hurt his feelings for he did not say a word as he was about to leave._

_She stood, "G-Good night S-Soran! H-Have s-sweet dreams!" she said, finally mustering up enough courage to say something. She had thought that if she was not sure if he was angry or something, the idea would disturb her the whole night._

_Soran took a halt just by the door frame. He wasn't sure of what to say then, he wasn't angry, he could never be angry at her. Although he did wonder why she accepted him the first time and denied him the second time. He stood there for a while and turned around with a smile._

"_Yeah," he said, but the tears at the corner of Euphie's eyes frightened him, was he the cause of those tears? _

"_D-Don't cry! I-It's ok with me! It doesn't matter to me so it shouldn't matter to you too!" he said frantically as the tears started to slide down her porcelain white cheeks. _

"_I-I thought you were mad at me…" she said in between soft sobs. He sighed walking over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. He led her to the bed where he lay her down and pulled the blanket up to her chest before taking her hand in his._

"_I could never be mad at you, not now, not ever," he said trying to hush the crying girl._

"_R-Really…?" she asked, her voice breaking a little from the crying._

"_Really. Now get some rest, people are gonna be up early tomorrow for the ambush," he said kissing her forehead, making her blush again. He turned to leave once more but then he felt someone tug at the rim of his shirt. He looked behind him and found that the person was Euphie. _

"_C-Could you stay with me here until I fall asleep…?" she asked a little reluctantly, she decided that if he agreed he really wasn't mad but he declined, she would be making him more mad._

_He stared at him in wonder for a while, Euphie saw the look and somehow, it frightened her. "Y-You don't have to stay if you don't want to! I-I'm sorry for―" but before she could finish her sentence, Soran had already laid on the floor beside her mattress, holding her hand as he did so._

_Euphie stared at him in shock and he stared back with nothing. She smiled to herself then closed her eyes, she felt very safe now, now with the person that she liked best._

"_Ne, Soran?"_

"_What?"_

"_Can you promise me something?"_

"_It depends."_

"_Can you promise me that no matter what happens… you'll do everything you could to end the war? To make peace?"_

_He stared at her for a moment then smiled._

"_I promise." He says. She smiled at him and sat up again, putting her up with him._

"_This is how we Britannians make promises," she says guiding his hand to his chest._

"_Repeat after me, I, Soran Ibrahin," she says putting her hand on her chest._

"_I, Soran Ibrahim," he says obeying her command._

"_Promise to Euphie, my friend," she says._

"_Promise to Euphie, my friend and the one most important to me," he edited her words making her blush a little._

"_That I will do whatever I can to end the war and bring peace to this world," she continued._

"_That I will do whatever I can to end the war and bring peace to this world," he followed._

"_I swear in the name of my God."_

"_I swear in the name of my God."_

_She smiled at him and they both lied down again (Soran still on the floor) and held each other's hand again._

"S-Soran…" she cried out again.

"_Well, you better say your good byes, cause I'm taking you back to Britannia," Cornelia said and Euphie nodded, somewhat sadly. She said good bye to all the boys and the all said good bye in return, some saying things like, "Be careful!" "Don't even forget us!" "When we see each other again, cook us some food ok?" _

_She finished with everyone except Soran who still looked down and looked angry. Suddenly, she because nervous, but sine he had said that he could never be angry at her, she was able to approach him._

"_Sor―Papa, if you want you can take Sophie…" she said holding up the doll to him but to her surprise, he swatted the doll away._

"_GET THAT STUPID THING AWAY FROM ME! Why are you talking to me that way? We're not friends! I HATE YOU!" he yelled at her, surprising her and making the Britannian soldiers react towards this and was about to attack the boy when Cornelia stopped them._

"_IF YOU WERE ALREADY PLANNING ON LEAVING, WHY DID YOU EVEN ENTER MY LIFE?! I HATE YOU, I HATE IT THAT I EVEN MET YOU!!! I WISH I HADN'T SAVED YOU FROM THE BOULDER, I WISH THAT YOU WOULD'VE DIED!!!" he yelled angrily, causing tears to start rolling down her cheeks. She had never heard Soran say such hateful words, and even if he did, she never thought they would be directed to her. He panted slightly from his sudden outburst and Euphie walked off to pick up Sophie then bowed to Soran._

"_I'm sorry… I'm sorry for even entering your life…" she said before walked off to her sister with a tear-stained face._

"A-Ahhhh!!!" she screamed as she woke. She sat on her bed, beads of sweat running down the side of her face, she still remembered her childhood friend but never really wanted to remember the fact that he hates her now.

"Euphemia?! What happened?!" Setsuna yelled from the kitchen before running into the bed room only to find a nervously smiling Euphemia.

"N-Nothing, Setsuna! U-Um… I'll just go get some water," she said putting her feet at the side of her bed but then Setsuna stopped her.

"I'll get it," he said before walking out of the room and returning with a glass of water at hand.

"Thank you," she said as she took the glass and began to sip, it felt so good to have cold water run down her now dry throat.

"Did you have a bad dream?" he asked.

"S-Something like that…" she said a little hesitantly.

"I never knew you royal people have anything bad to dream about," he said making Euphemia feel insulted she was about to retort but then something told her not to, so she didn't. He looked at her in wonder, by now she'd be going by the mouth telling him insults but now… she isn't.

"Go back to bed," he said lying down on his own bed closing his eyes as he wrapped his blanket around himself.

"Y-Yes…" she said softly, putting the glass on the nearby bed stand before lying on her bed as well.

Thanks for reading!


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